GW Bush – Loser’s Sweat in Iraq

In pool hall parlance or on the floors of casinos, loser's sweat occurs when a man attempts to recoup his losses by doubling his bets; instead of winning, he continues in a spiral, getting deeper and deeper into debt, foolishly clinging to expectations of winning. When you play this system with dollars, euros or rubles, you are just a fool. An intelligent gambler stops, knows when luck runs against him, and cuts his losses. When the game is played with military forces, it is madness and irresponsible. By throwing more troops into the battle for Iraq, President GW Bush is throwing more lives away with almost no chance of success. Those generals with guts have already told him that – it is defeat in detail, and exactly what happened in Vietnam; Johnson and Westmoreland incrementally escalated US troop deployments into the battle until about 500,000 were deployed and defeated.

Defeat in detail is a concept even the dumbest politician can understand: instead of using massive force initially to overcome and overwhelm the enemy, you dribble forces into battle allowing the enemy to respond and counter your moves. Never having the mass of troops to win decisively, at best, you can hold a status quo; but that is not winning by a long shot – it just bleeding. Generals Powell and Abizaid have given Bush this information. Unlike Powell at the UN, Abizaid now has chosen to retire rather than execute GW Bush's corrupt orders.

Neocon Kenneth Adelman, the blowhard with the worst taste in ties on TV who sold "Cakewalk In Iraq", has declared that if the Surge does not work, he thinks we should get out Iraq. Uncertain whether Adelman knows the difference between tin soldiers and those with flesh and blood. Like his disturbing choice of sartorial splendor, you can bet he has no idea what is going on in Iraq. "Dead Wrong Twice" is the new nickname he has pending. Hopeless Henry Kissinger, who still pads around the White House on a regular basis, is probably one of the fathers to the crackpot Surge concept. Does anyone believe he will get anything right on Earth before his time comes to start advising celestial deities? Neocons have been consistently wrong on Iraq. If the consequences of their misjudgments were not so deadly, you could enjoy the absurdity of their calls. What ever happened to their pet Snake Ahmed Chalabi when they need him?

Apart from the projected failure of the so called McCain-Liebermann Neocon Surge policy, is GWB's frantic tactics used to justify this reinforcement strategy in Iraq. GW Bush has told us repeatedly in his cheer leading period that he takes advice from his combat commanders in war... but he now has a new caveat: that is, if my commanders agree with my neocon pals. He has sent Mr. Vanilla Bob Gates, his freshly minted SECDEF, to Iraq to find support. Gates had to look high and low. He got no support from the Iraqi leadership, such as it is. He did find support from some handpicked enlisted men and from generals probably looking for another star, but the trip was at best a flop. The top level generals in Iraq told Vanilla Bob what the Joint Chiefs told him: Tell us what the Mission is for the augmented brigades and we will consider it. Gates finally got General Casey to agree that he would not interpose objections for additional troops. How luke warm can you get and stay on active duty? Apparently, tepid obedience is the price of future glory for General Casey. As far as Gates, the the Pentagon brass will find that the new SECDEF follows directives fervently from the president, like a nun follows holy edicts... If Rumsfeld drove the generals crazy with his shallow, aggressive hubris, Gates will try to bore them into compliance. Gates’ promotion to SECDEF is the triumph of the super clerk over leadership. Do not expect him to purge DOD of the pernicious neocons and Israeli Defense Force imbeds – that would take leadership.

Despite a mandate by the voters to end the Iraqi war in the mid-term elections, the many congressional Democrats, at least those who take gold from the Israeli Lobbyists, prefer political hari kari than to confront their rich, powerful campaign donors. They too quickly buy into the refrain that we have to support the troops; and therefore, we cannot control the expenditures for the war through budget constraints. This is a cowardly cop out and a bought and paid position. If they wish to protect the troops, get them out of harms way and end the pointless war – set up political/military milestones that if not met, choke off the funds. If you expect GW Bush to end the war, forget it. He takes orders from the neocons who want permanent war in the Middle East to project their own objectives. And at the same time, poor GWB will hold on at all costs until the end of his term with the hope of blaming defeat on the next elected commander in chief.

Al Qaida has offered Bush a one month truce to exit his troops and 70,000 civilian contractors from Iraq – an audacious propaganda ploy that Bush cannot accept, but it does question the argument that he needs extended time to redeploy. It is an invitation to surrender – all heavy equipment is to remain in country as bases are turned over to Iraqi insurgents. This is what Bush's faces unless he can figure out a more graceful exit while his combat power in country is not more dissipated. To join the insurgency, all you need to do is learn three Sura verses by heart from the Koran and you will be paid by the insurgents. What is the offer from the Iraqi Army to join up? So there are choices for Iraqis who regard the current government as a puppet of the occupation.

A mission for the Surge? More of the same or will there be a determined effort to unhorse el Sadr and his militia? US has turned Najaf over to the Iraqi Army and that is where el Sadr hangs out. The US Main Supply Route can be closed by the militias and to keep it open under continuous fire will be more costly than it is now. So far the number one Ayatollah Sistani who speaks Arabic with a Farsi accent, has not dropped his handkerchief for US troops to remain in Iraq, nor will he support Bush's moves for a unified Iraqi government. It is just a more stupid, BRING THEM ON.

This whole Iraq war has taken on a surrealistic fog. It is as if the Vietnam debacle never occurred – no lessons learned. The Bush administration with its generals move in detached, dream-like scenarios that pay little attention to the devastating results their bloody actions inflict on themselves and their adversaries. Colonel Robert E Bartos USA RET